links archive

IN: ‘I just want peace’: Man claims self-defense in downtown South Bend shooting

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
Wayne Hubbard said what was meant to be a quiet night of fishing on the St. Joseph River turned into him staring down the barrel of a gun. "I told him at one point my kids are in the car, man. I am begging you, please don't do it," Hubbard said. Hubbard said a man confronted him, falsely accusing him of assaulting the man's brother earlier this month — an unhoused individual Hubbard said he has gotten to know. Hubbard denied the alleged assault and said the man pulled a gun, fired at him, but missed. Hubbard said he fired back.
Read More

BERSA USA to Exhibit at G.O.A.L.S. 2026

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
BERSA USA, a leading innovator in the firearms and shooting sports industry, announced today it will exhibit at the 2026 Gun Owners Advocacy & Leadership Summit, known as G.O.A.L.S. 2026, taking place Aug. 1–2 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa. BERSA USA will be located at Booth 2938. G.O.A.L.S. 2026 is the flagship convention of Gun Owners of America, marking the organization's 50th anniversary defending Second Amendment rights. The event draws thousands of GOA members, firearms enthusiasts, industry exhibitors and Second Amendment advocates from across the country for a weekend of speakers, panels, exhibits and community programming.
Read More

VA: Virginian forgers can’t bear arms

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
The Virginia Court of Appeals found that a state statute barring firearm possession by persons convicted of forgery does not violate the Second Amendment. "Taking away the offender's firearm rights is consistent with our nation's tradition of disarming those persons who so severely violate established legal norms as to be deemed untrustworthy to possess firearms."
Read More

The Lifetime Likelihood Of Needing A Gun For Self-Defense

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
A few months ago, John Correia of Active Self Protection was confronted by a burglar in his own home. The man fled, no shot was fired, and Correia walked away thinking about a question many armed citizens eventually ask. Realistically, what are the odds I will ever need my gun? In a video on his channel, he ran the numbers from two major firearms surveys and arrived at a startlingly large lifetime probability. This article borrows his framework and pushes further into the underlying data.
Read More

Supreme Court Cabins Federal Firearms Ban For Cannabis Users

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
The Court held that prosecuting Hemani violated the Second Amendment. Under Bruen and Rahimi, once the Second Amendment's text covers a person's conduct, the government must show that the restriction is "consistent with the Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation." The government tried to carry that burden by analogizing Section 922(g)(3) to founding-era "habitual drunkard" laws. The Court rejected that analogy because those historical statutes targeted different categories (the incapacitated, not the merely regular user) for different reasons (public morals and the user's own welfare, not risks of violence) and through different means (only after some form of process).
Read More

NJ: New Jersey ban on semiautomatic weapons ruled unconstitutional

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
New Jersey's ban on so-called assault firearms and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds has been deemed unconstitutional. This decision came July 17 from the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, making it the first time a federal appeals court declared New Jersey in violation the Second Amendment. New Jersey is known for having some of the country's strictest gun control laws. The state's ban on firearms characterized as assault weapons has been in place since 1990.
Read More

Is the Supreme Court’s ‘Common Use’ Test Really Originalist?

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
The Supreme Court's "common use" test has become one of the strongest weapons available to Americans challenging bans on AR-15s, standard-capacity magazines, and other widely owned firearms. It may also rest on a surprisingly weak originalist foundation. That is the theory recently advanced by Second Amendment plaintiff Charles Nichols, who argues that the Constitution does not protect an arm because enough Americans already own it. The Second Amendment protects arms because the text says the people's right to keep and bear them "shall not be infringed."
Read More

CO: Colorado Suffers Setback In Fight To Defend Gun Tax

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
A Colorado judge on Monday refused to dismiss El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen as a defendant in a suit challenging a 6.5% tax the state placed on firearms. Colorado voters approved the tax via Proposition KK, which imposed the duty on firearms, firearm parts and ammunition in the November 2024 election. District Court Judge Andrew McCallin explained two reasons why he denied Allen's motion to dismiss in a brief one-page order.
Read More

IL: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signs order toughening city standards on buying guns

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday signed an executive order to toughen standards for where city departments and sister agencies buy guns, firearm accessories, and ammunition. The Mayor's office said the executive order was motivated by nationwide concerns about law enforcement agencies purchasing firearms from unvetted dealers. "This executive order reflects a simple belief that every taxpayer dollar should be advanced for public safety, and it should support responsible business practices," said Mayor Johnson. The mayor signed the order in front of Brady: United Against Gun Violence, Live Free Illinois, and other gun violence prevention advocates.
Read More

IN: Guns to Gardens initiative comes to Indianapolis church

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
Guns to Gardens brings new meaning to the word growth through a program that transforms firearms into garden tools. Allisonville Christian Church is hosting an event that brings the nationwide community-led initiative to Indianapolis. The program is rooted in faith and enables communities to safely dispose of firearms. The event allows gun owners to surrender their weapons. Once a professional checks that the weapon is unloaded, it will be dismantled.The weapon is then taken apart and a blacksmith the gunmetal into gardening tools. If you decline the service, the scraps will be destroyed or used to make art.
Read More

IA: Fort Dodge man found to be acting in self-defense after fatally shooting another man

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
Fort Dodge police have determined a man who shot and killed another man last Friday was acting in self-defense, according to a press release. Police were dispatched shortly before 2 p.m. after learning of a man who had been shot in the 1300 block of 3rd Avenue North in Fort Dodge. When they arrived at the scene, police found a man with a gunshot wound. The man, identified as 45-year-old Thomas Henry Ahrens of Fort Dodge, was taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Read More

Second Amendment Freedom Guarantees All Our Freedoms

Submitted by: Mark A. Taff

Email: mark@keepandbeararms.com
Website: www.marktaff.com
Starting July 1, Virginia law will forbid the future sale, manufacture and transfer of a huge swath of America's most commonly owned rifles, pistols and shotguns, along with magazines holding more than 15 rounds. Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the package in May, and lawmakers in Richmond are already congratulating themselves for "commonsense" reform. Don't believe it. This is a Beltway-style assault on a constitutional right, headed for the same legal reckoning that similar bans have met elsewhere. The Second Amendment is, and always has been, a freedom amendment.
Read More
Load More